Infectious disease data

Data, mostly time-series of case reports, on measles and chickenpox
from various regions (England and Wales, New York City, Copenhagen,
Baltimore County ...) Also includes some miscellaneous geographic
and demographic data that I consider to be useful.
Most of these data have been manually entered from published records
by various people,
and are prone to errors at several levels.
All data are provided as is. Feel free to e-mail me
(bolker@mcmaster.ca) with questions
or corrections, but use at your own risk.

England and Wales

Most England and Wales data is either from the weekly
OPCS (Office of Population Censuses and Surveys) reports,
from the Registrar General's Quarterly or Annual Reports,
or from various English census reports.

During the 1941 disease year, over 85,500 cases of measles -- more than twice the number of any other year -- were reported in New York City. All boroughs showed proportional increases, the relative percentages being the same as in other high years, and, beginning in the fall, all months showed exceptionally high totals. The reasons for the unusual outbreak are not clear. After two successive low years a high year would be expected in 1941. Unlike other years, several newspaper articles about the outbreak began appearing in February of 1941 and perhaps more than the usual one in five to seven cases were reported that spring. For measles in New York City, the 1941 disease year is excluded from the study.